Skill development

Australian football is a multidimensional team sport where talented players are required to possess both well-developed physical capabilities and technical skills (Woods, Raynor, Bruce, & McDonald, 2015; Woods, Raynor, Bruce, McDonald, et

26 al., 2015). In Australian football, players can either dispose of the ball by foot (kick) or by hand (handball). The skill of kicking involves the player dropping the ball from the hands at approximately waist height so that the ball drops towards the kicking foot. Ball-foot contact typically occurs around 0.1-0.3 m from the ground (Ball, 2008). Handballing is a skill unique to Australian football and involves the player holding the ball in one hand and striking the ball, using a clenched fist, with the opposite hand (Parrington, Ball, & MacMahon, 2013). Senior AFL players often perform kicks on both their dominant and non-dominant legs, over various short (~25m), medium (~35m) or long (~45m) distances (Appleby & Dawson, 2002). Handballs are more commonly performed under high opposition pressure, with players typically executing handballs across distances of less than 15 m (Parrington et al., 2013). To test the technical skill of potential draftees the AFL introduced a kicking efficiency test to the AFL National Draft Combine in 2009, with the tests assessing dominant and non-dominant foot kicking skills across three distances; short (20 m), medium (30 m) or long (40 m) (see Figure 5). In 2010, the skills tests were expanded to include a handball efficiency test, in which the player receives the ball either in the air or on the ground and then were required to handball to a target, either on their dominant and non-dominant hand. Targets in the handball test are set at 6 m, 8 m, and 10 m (see Figure 6). Both tests were designed for use at the annual National Draft Combine, as well as in other levels of the development pathway. As such, the tests were designed to be easy to implement and replicate. However it is surprising that despite the tests being extensively used in the AFL TP and the implication for performance on potential career progression that no assessment of reliability or validity has yet been conducted on either skill test.

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Figure 5. Layout of the AFL’s kicking test. The player receives the ball before

pivoting around the turn cone. At the same time as the ball is received a randomly selected target will be called with the player required to deliver the ball before the kick line to the target. Targets are set on the left and right sides at 20 m, 30 m and 40 m (adapted from Sheehan (2010) with permission from the AFL).

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Figure 6. Layout of the AFL’s handball test. The player receives the ball at the pick-up

line. At the same time as the ball is received a randomly selected target will be called with the player required to deliver the ball before the release line to the target. Targets are set on the left and right sides at 6 m, 8 m and 10 m (adapted from Sheehan (2010) with permission from the AFL).

29 Longitudinal research into the sports of hockey, soccer and handball have shown that sport specific skills progressively improve with age (Elferink-Gemser et al., 2007; Huijgen, Elferink-Gemser, Ali, & Visscher, 2013; Matthys, Vaeyens, Fransen, et al., 2012; Vaeyens et al., 2006). For instance, Vaeyens et al. (2006) demonstrated that the soccer skills of lobbing, dribbling and juggling all improved between 13-16 years of age. However, research examining the effect maturational variation has on age matched players and technical performance has been

inconclusive (Coelho E Silva et al., 2008; Figueiredo et al., 2009b; Malina, Eisenmann, et al., 2004; Matta et al., 2014; Vandendriessche et al., 2012). For instance, age matched soccer players appear to demonstrate no significant difference between players of varying maturation status and skill (Figueiredo et al., 2009b; Malina et al., 2005; Matta et al., 2014). Soccer skill tests commonly involve assessments of ball control, dribbling, passing and shooting performance. In the study by Malina et al. (2005), only a single skill variable, dribbling speed with a pass, differed between pubertal stages in 13 to 15 year old soccer players (n=69). In this study maturity was found to have a small effect on the skill tests, explaining 8- 21% of observed variance. However, other studies have consistently shown no significant difference between groups of different maturational status and soccer skill performance (Figueiredo et al., 2009b; Matta et al., 2014; Vandendriessche et al., 2012). In other sports of basketball and handball maturational variation appears to have little effect on sport specific skill (Coelho E Silva et al., 2008; Matthys, Vaeyens, Coelho E Silva, et al., 2012). Matthys, Vaeyens, Coelho E Silva, et al. (2012) reported no significant difference in handball specific skills and maturation, while Coelho E Silva et al. (2008) reported significant performance disadvantage to late maturing 14 year old basketball players in dribbling and defensive skills, however the small sample (n=31) of players in this group limit these findings. To date no research has explored the effect of maturational variation has on the kicking and handball skills specific to Australian football.

It is suggested that talented team sport players are required to possess a composite of physical, technical and tactical skill (Launder, 2001). In Australian football there is a plethora of evidence available supporting the theory that talented players also have superior physical capacities however, examination of sport specific

30 skill and selection has scarcely been undertaken. To date only one study has

examined the link between technical skill and talent identification in Australian football. Woods, Raynor, Bruce, and McDonald (2015), created two skill tests with similar technical requirements to the AFL’s skills test with players required to perform kicks or handballs on their dominant and non-dominant hand or foot. Talent identified U18 state representative players were significantly (p<.05) more accurate on their dominant and non-dominant hands and foot than their non-talent identified counterparts (Woods, Raynor, Bruce, et al., 2015). Further predictive modelling included all the technical variables examined (dominant and non-dominant limb accuracy and kicking ball speed) and correctly detected 80% of the talent identified players. This study provides the first evidence that skill differences exist between talent identified and non-talent identified junior Australian footballers. Given the relative lack of research examining skill efficiency and selection in Australian

football further research should explore if the findings of Woods, Raynor, Bruce, and McDonald (2015) are replicated in other levels of the AFL TP and if the tests

developed by the AFL demonstrate a discriminatory capacity.